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The Steep Stuff Podcast
Dan Vega | Colorado Trail Community Legend
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Join us as we welcome the legendary Dan Vega, a towering figure in the Colorado Springs running community, known for his enduring passion and iconic races such as the Pikes Peak Ascent and the Leadville 100. With anecdotes spanning from his early days in California to his significant influence in the Mountain West, Dan shares his rich tapestry of experiences. From his college years at Adams State to forging deep connections with fellow running greats like Matt Carpenter, Dan's journey offers fascinating insights into the camaraderie and competition that fuel the spirit of trail running.
Dan's stories reveal the grit and determination required to tackle the tough terrains of ultra-marathons, including strategic insights from the Leadville Trail 100. The episode unfolds with humorous recollections and personal encounters that capture the essence of the ultra-running community, painting a vivid picture of the mental and physical fortitude required to succeed in these grueling races. We also celebrate the vibrant running culture in Colorado Springs, offering a glimpse into the playful challenges and community bonds strengthened through Strava segments.
Discover the evolution of trail racing through Dan's eyes, as we navigate topics like training methodologies, the sponsorship landscape, and the changing dynamics of competitive running. Dan's reflections on personal milestones, including the birth of his son, underscore the profound impact of mental shifts on running performance. Whether recounting victories at events like the San Juan Solstice or discussing the balance of work and racing commitments, Dan's journey in trail running is one of resilience, growth, and unwavering passion.
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Colorado Springs Running Legend
Speaker 1What's up, guys? Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. I'm your host, james Lauriello, and today I'm bringing you guys something so special. None other than Colorado Springs running legend himself, mr Dan Vega, joins us on the podcast. I'm so excited to get in the final chat with Dan.
Speaker 1For those of you who are unfamiliar with that name maybe that don't live outside of the Colorado, maybe that live outside of the Colorado Springs area Dan is a community member. He's a legend. When I say a legend, he's been involved in the Colorado Springs and really greater Colorado and Mountain West running community since the 90s when he ran some of his first races in the Pikes Peak Ascent and others. Dan has a storied career with races like the Pikes Peak Ascent, the Kendall Mountain Run, the San Juan Solstice um, the leadville 100 and plenty of races. Uh, like I said, one of the reasons um why I was really excited to talk to dan is just, you know, he's a legend of the game. He's a legend of the community.
Speaker 1If you don't, if you live in colorado springs and don't know that name, you absolutely should. Um, he's awfully famous as well for his uh, um van dega, um strava segments that you might see on strava all over the place, uh, all over the springs. Yeah, what a good dude. What? What? In so many interesting stories, um, from training with matt carpenter over the years to racing matt carpenter, um, just so like so much interesting stuff it was. It was a genuine pleasure to finally get to chat with him and I can't wait to have him back on for more stories and to see what he's got planned for coming up the pipeline. So, guys, I hope you enjoy this one. Like I said, this is a personal favorite of mine.
Speaker 2None other than Dan Vega. It's time, Thank you.
Speaker 1James, good, we are live. Like it's been a mild winter here, like we just I told you this before the pod we just moved from Monument down here into the Springs and like it's a little bit warmer.
Speaker 2It is.
Speaker 1I like it, man. You get a lot more snow up there. Yeah, you do, you do. It's crazy, but yeah, it has been a mild winter here, so it's been nice for some winter running and just getting building fitness for the summer. So it's more of the ice is the problem.
Speaker 2It's true, I mean deep snow. I've done all that back in the day with Matt and all those guys, but yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's, it's crazy. So, uh, you know what I introduced you. Let's talk a little bit about your background.
Speaker 2Maybe talk a little bit about yourself, um, I have three kids, four grandkids, divorced, Lived with my girlfriend just right up by Bear Creek, Work at Brown Shoes. Been running since or racing since fourth grade. Wow, so long history of that stuff and I still can't stop. Still want to keep getting to a level level, much more than whatever I've done. You know dream was to go to the Olympics. Didn't know there was other stuff beyond that. Obviously that didn't happen.
Speaker 1So still going Wow, let's unpack that a little bit. Are you? Are you from the Colorado Springs?
Speaker 2From California. What part Clovis?
Speaker 1Oh nice, fresno Clovis. What brought you out here? What got you in the Springs Adams?
Speaker 2State College Okay.
Speaker 1You ran there, I did run there later.
Speaker 2Yeah, I went to junior college, then went to the Marines and then came back. And a friend that I raced against high school it was a year behind me, but he's a year older than I am he went to junior college one of the years I was there and after that I went to the Marines and then he went to a four-year NIA college, fresno Pacific, and then he had never lost a race there, went to nationals and lost to three Adams State guys. So it made him go to there and then Coach Vigil was the Olympic coach in 88 and later in 2008. But he went there and when I came back he had some problems with a woman and he came back and he wanted to come back. But he just left school, didn't say anything to be, he'll just left. So he was always questioned about wanting to go back. He said you want to go there, we can train whatever. So we headed to alamosa um and then for a little bit he was worried about going there. So we went to westerns.
Speaker 2So to gunnison yeah, yeah which you know, I knew nothing about the colleges. And uh, he said nah, okay, we even rented a trailer. We never went to it, never paid it. So he said let's just go to alamosa. And that's how it all started. And then v hill told me you need to go back to school if you want to be trained, because otherwise I was just going there to train yeah.
Speaker 1So, and what was your emphasis? Was more of a track distance, or were you chasing cross country like what? Were you steeplechase?
Speaker 2okay, you're steepler oh wow, yeah, good for you. Much better than the steeplechase, than cross country yeah for whatever reason, the barriers were like an equalizer to anybody else dude, it's so interesting to me.
Speaker 1I talked to so many like joe is a steepler, like so many steeplers are very good at trail running and I don't know if it's obviously it's difficult, like if it's that something with biomechanics and like muscularity is a little bit different. I don't know, like it's. It's very interesting to me. A lot of them are always very dominant, like I just had Ruby Lindquist, who's a new North base athlete, on the podcast from Alaska and another steepler, like everybody's a steepler, so it's interesting. Grayson's a steeple. Yeah, I, it's. It's amazing. Um, okay, so college in Alamosa, you ran there the steeple chase and how did you like? Like, actually, how about this? Before I ask about the trail running question, I don't really back it up and talk about your Olympic aspirations and like what you wanted to do with that.
Speaker 2Like it olympic aspirations, and like what you wanted to do with that, like it was further um. I mean, the dream was to go to the olympics, not realizing road racing and all that stuff it was just that little straight dream to go to the olympics. Nothing else really thought about doing anything else, no aspirations of uh careers, just wanted to run, just wanted to run, just wanted to run, but didn't realize all the other things. To keep running, because if you don't make it in track, what else is there I?
Speaker 2mean when you think about it, and then all those other things opened up.
Speaker 1Especially like decades ago, there was no. There's no podcast, there's no ways to diversify yourself. It's either you figure out how to run and be better than everybody else, or or you don't go. It's kind of it's. It was a much harder track. In a lot of ways pun intended track. Um. So what was your time like in alamosa? What was that training all about? And you know, did you? Did you meander on any of the trails in the saluis valley, like up into the sangres, or was it more so? Just focused on training?
Speaker 2I would go run up some of the four do parts of the 14ers, not necessarily to the top. I never made it to any of the top while I was there. Otherwise, sometimes during the summer I'd go do like I think I did three in a row, so it was like 22 miles, 20 miles, 18 miles like in a row like that, but never made it to the top. Didn't know really anything much about trails because where I came from there was really nothing. Yeah, alamosa didn't have any, even though we have the sand dunes and that stuff.
Speaker 1So that's kind of how that started it's a beautiful place, a small town, cool little small town very small, but it's changed a lot even now you think it's changed. Oh well, I guess it's very commercialized. I mean, every time I've driven through in the last few years it's always been. It's just a pit stop on the way to the sangre, or to, uh well, the sangres or the san juans, depending on where you're going you know it's uh, but it is a neat little town and it's funny.
Speaker 1You drive past and you're like wait a second, there's a, there's a college here, like it's because it's, you wouldn't know such a tiny area, yeah yeah uh, shout out to jackson cole. He's a las pertiva teammate of mine. He went to adam state and ran there and, uh, I can't remember. He might coach there for a little bit as well. But yeah, I mean a lot of great runners, matt daniels, a lot of people have rolled through there over the years yeah, man, I know yeah, yeah, so all right.
Trail Running Journey and Passion
Speaker 1So, cool experience in alamosa. How did you find the trails? Then? Like, what got you discovered as far as, like, your first trail race, cause I mean in the research that I did on you and from people that I've spoken to, uh, and we could talk about. You know as well, like you're a huge member of the Colorado Springs running community, like everybody has told me, like you gotta talk to Dan. So, um, what got you into trail running all the way back in the nineties?
Speaker 2Uh, let's see 94, I moved to Colorado Springs, Um, and I'd left Adams, but I wasn't running, I wasn't competing in 94. I was done in 93. So I just started running around and then heard of Pike's Peak, the ascent. Did that the first year and that just went terrible. Like I could run just cause I was not too far out of college, Um, but I, I did the triple crown, signed up for that. I think I ended up like 50th overall. I think I ran three 20 in the in my first ascent. The first two races were pretty good, shorter, a lot easier, and then that's. I think that was, might've been my first real, real trail race. I mean we did, I did some when I was in Clovis or Fresno, but it's like dirt road. I mean it's not California carpet.
Speaker 2Not like and it's all flat.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Nothing like mountains.
Speaker 1Yeah. So, that's interesting and I I have to say, like out of the research that I did, man like you might have the greatest like turnaround out of anyone else. Like you went from did you get second the year after? I had something like that. Yeah, it was like we were what 26 years old, so it would have been what 90, 90, 95, okay, and huge turnaround like did you just train your ass off like the year after and start figuring it out? Or like what, what changed?
Speaker 2I ran from running 20 minutes a day in 94 and going off of I you know, it's almost like you haven't had half an attitude when you're running.
Speaker 2You know I figured I was better than everybody else because I just came from out of state, I was still very fast, at least in my mind, and things were really good. I mean I could do a lot of things here. And then after I fell apart in 94, I mean that was very sad, I mean that was very humbling 95, I would stick to like 25 miles. I was doing 25 miles a week, not 20 minutes a day. And uh had a friend, uh ken romero, so he would pick me up at at work. So I worked at uh pay less, okay.
Speaker 2So on those days I'd have to open and then close it because I would leave during the middle of the day. We'd drive up to elk park, we run down. Run up to the top is what Matt used to do later when I used to run with Matt and do that all the time, probably once a week for maybe I don't know a couple of months. And then when I was down here I never touched Spar Trail, never ran on the trail there, I would just run around. So for whatever reason, my son was born in May of that same year. Maybe the mental side of that.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2My first boy kid. I have a daughter that's a little older, I don't know, it was just something about that day. And then the races I did. I did the classic 10K, I think I ran 32, something, damn. And then Garden 10 Mile mile ran 54, 55. So I was racing Andy Ames Do you know that name? No, so he's a little older than I am. He had just won the triple crown the year before and ran 212 the year before.
Speaker 2Okay, so so the race started out. I just took the lead right from the gun and running up the road, and then Michael Tobin, so he was the world duathlete champion, yeah at the time. And then, uh, I started having some uh side cramps and he pulled away. So then I was by myself a little bit. Then andy went by and then I was by myself the whole time. Never saw anybody behind me, oh man. And I didn't see them. Andy somewhere out of uh tree line. So at a frame after you get out of the little trees right there you can see further up, and andy was just so far way up there and it's like you know, you're never gonna think you're gonna catch him. I caught him, I think. The last aid station. There's like a rock face where you run through the rocks a little bit, yeah, a little over a mile to go. Caught him there and got seven minutes on him to the top damn, I mean luckily he died.
Speaker 2Yeah, he must say, he imploded but I think tobin ran 211 or 212, yeah, and then I ran 218, yeah that's an amazing time, man, good for holy shit like that.
Speaker 1That was. I mean, that's an absolute standard. Even in like that would have gotten. What did you run last year? I mean that would have been easily top five this year again.
Speaker 2So yeah, always depends on the year.
Speaker 1Yeah let's do a pressure. There's a lot that goes into it, but that's crazy. And you've had I mean, how many times have you run the race? I mean, it's got to be over a handful of times, right, like close to 15.
Speaker 2Is that what it is? Oh, wow, I think.
Speaker 1Okay, wow.
Speaker 2But I've only had one good one, that was. That was it.
Speaker 1That one was amazing. I mean dude, I you had an.
Speaker 2I think you also had another top 10 or a couple got up to that wow now, why didn't I get even close to that?
Speaker 1you know what you're. You're so interesting to me because in the research that I did for you, like not only a lot of people just will have success in the sport and then something will change in their lives and they just give up and they're not interested in anymore. You're one of the few people and I hope to be like this and I hope this inspires others to be like this is like you're really stuck with it, man like you. You it seems like you absolutely love this and it's something you love to do. Can you talk a little bit about that? Because I I you don't meet too many people that like will have success and then you know you've had success even into the master's category um, like I said as a kid, you just think about, think about the Olympics when you don't know anything else.
Legendary Running Mentor
Speaker 2That is the only thing to strive for. Yeah, and I've just never stopped wanting to run. Sometimes it's been hard, you know. Sometimes you're gifted to not have injuries or have those problems. I was never focused on a career which is not good at the same time, to a point, um, and it's just something that's always like. It's what I am. I mean, people don't know me much beyond that. Um, most of my friends are all basically runners. Uh, nothing, much more. Like I worked at runners. The two owners are olympians, so everything is so focused about running. My kids ran a little bit, a few, or actually all three of them didn't stay with it. But and just that drive to want to want to get that goal, since I didn't make I mean, I've not even get close to the olymp but try to make the trials a few times in the marathon but it's just that focus of wanting to make something of myself a bigger name than whatever name I have or had.
Speaker 2And then masters like it didn't make any difference when I hit 40. Because I could still run in the sense just as good, Like when I did Leadville I was 38. You know, I've won some races over 40, run some races over 50. If I can stay focused to running, that makes a huge difference. And a long time ago Matt told me just run consistent, you got to at least run 10 minutes a day. So I just took that to heart when I tried to make the trials once or the first time. So there was times I'd run in my basement for 10 minutes just downstairs, or go run at night when the kids would go to sleep. So a lot of my runs were at 11 o'clock at night, a minute before 12 o'clock. So I can count it as that day and just that mindset of of that got me through.
Speaker 2Now to run a farther distance Didn't have the endurance necessarily. Sometimes you can get away with the mind over the body. So I've never want to stop. I've got into some Spartan races, uh. With the resume I sent them, they let me in the elite races. So I did some ultras, uh, and then I did a beast, but I've been in the top 10. I've never been out of the top 10. I think I've been. Ninth is the worst, Wow, and then third on one of them.
Speaker 1So that's crazy man. The Spartan races are dope. I only ever did one. I did a 5K in Florida like years and years and years ago, before I really got into running, and yeah, it was fun, it was cool, it was different. I didn't really like jumping in the water.
Speaker 2I'm like it's from Florida, it's disgusting water, I mean you're going to get like a brain amoeba or something If you're not the leaders it's one of the greatest to ever do.
Speaker 1It is a giant in the sport. Everybody talks about him I've only had the pleasure of I think I've met him twice. Like what is that like, training with him? Like, was he like? Just the most?
Speaker 2like, I'll let you say it, you tell me um, probably no one's more focused, driven, methodical on everything he did. I mean, it was just ridiculous. And after I ran 218 I figured when he would retire I would take over in the sense of like be the next matt. He never retired till in his mid-40s, so that didn't happen and I didn't get any better as far as that stuff. Um, but we'd uh go do repeats together, uh doing that elk parked like it was always be me and him by ourselves when I get to to bar camp, and then slowly over time he would pull away, especially when it got higher. It's like he didn't have a problem with altitude, it's like it would get easier for him and harder for everybody else.
Speaker 1Interesting.
Speaker 2And then I had kids. Sometimes my kids would just hang out at his house while we go run and then we'd get back and he would make some food. It would be like a bag of vegetables. He'd put it in the boiling water with some pasta, have some ice cream. That's what he ate all the time. Sometimes I'd have to pick him up because he didn't drive at the time. He had, I think, rolled a car at one point and stopped driving, so everything was running. He would drive everywhere.
Speaker 2Sometimes we'd go to, like the US mountain running snowshoe champs. It was $5,000 for first. We took him up there and his back was hurting. I just remember that. And I gave him a pill I think it was Aleve. It doesn't really take anything. So I gave it to him and later, after he won, he was peeing blood.
Speaker 2Oh my God, I sat down there, never going to take any of that stuff from you again, but just it was amazing to run with him and every time we'd he was always telling me something like do this, do that, or you know watching him run over the rocks or the turns, and he would mention those little things. You know, this angle, that angle, step here, don't jump over it and there was times when we'd be running downhill and he'd slip and fall. Like in the snow He'd slide, I mean. It seemed like there was one time he was going to hit a rock with his face, just missed it, got up, took off and just flew. And I'm trying to keep up with him. It was so hard because when he falls he will get right up and go, unless you break something or whatever, to get that adrenaline going to where you can just keep going. I mean, it was just amazing.
Speaker 1That's great, and he was always encouraging.
Speaker 2He played with my kids, spun one of my kids off his little spinny chair and the kid fell off, oh my God. And he had moved into this place where he kept all the furniture and all the little stuffed animals. So he'd give my kid a stuffed animal and we'd visit and stuff like that.
Speaker 1So great guy Competitive-wise. Is he like the most competitive person you've ever been around Like. Is he a psycho in that?
Speaker 2sense In the world of that.
Speaker 1yes, yeah, ever been around like see a psycho and that, like that's the world of that. Yes, yeah, what's he like training with? Like, is he competitive? Was he competitive like on training too? Like, how was that?
Speaker 2no, because you have to be able to run with him right you know how can you be competitive if you're has he ever tried to like you guys ever tried to drop each other and like do shit like that or no, like yeah, like we come down pikes, peak and then you go up the little part where the parking lot is, yeah, where the race bar trail finishes Like he'd do, we'd do sprints up that and it's like I just couldn't get him. And sometimes in the we'd run on the trails I mean his stride was bigger than mine up going on some of the hills. I mean he's little compared to I am.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean anything like that. Yeah, I mean anything like that yeah but and in general I couldn't match everything he could do anyways.
Speaker 1But if you do like a sprint, I mean that's yeah, it's a competition to a point because, yeah, you want to beat him that's so interesting to me because you know, you gotta remember like to people, like to my generation, and even like mountain running as a whole, like he's looked up to as this like legend, like no one really knows him right. Like he's looked up to as this like legend, like no one really knows him Right. So it's all stories of like this legend and like it's just interesting to me to hear that he lives up to every inch of like what, like what people say. It's pretty cool, like if you could talk to him about all that stuff.
Speaker 1I would love to let go part of it.
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean he like I mean he like in 94, I did the San Juan 50. Yeah, and I'm there eating at the pasta thing and he shows up Like you could enter the race right then, which is amazing, you can't do that now. And he shows up and I'm thinking, oh crap, matt's here.
Speaker 1So we go and at the beginning.
Speaker 2We miss the very first turn, just out of town, not that it made any difference, you just we went one block farther because we were in front of everybody and they turn and we just turn and we met up. But after a little while he was gone and I was by myself and then I just really fell apart that day. And then the, the, and then in 2005, I won. I was supposed to go do Leadville. I had some friends pay for me to run in 2004,.
Speaker 1Paul DeWitt and a bunch of other guys. He was a winner, yeah.
Speaker 2Yep, Yep. So I didn't even sure if I could run 50, 100 miles anyways. But one of his pacers had dropped, couldn't make it. So I said, Paul, I'll pace you if you want. So we agreed to that. And then that's when he set the record. Matt fell apart that year In 94, he fell apart 95 is when he had just annihilated everything.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2So he only focused on the race and that's it. He focused everything that. How much water you would drink, especially at Leadville, any aid station. He had timed everything for as much as food, as much water to only carry that. And what I remember is be like he would do two or three sips every 10 minutes. And in 90, in 2004, he had pacers but he dropped them both. So the next year he went with nothing and just focused. He would go to Leadville train all the time and then, I mean it just blew away. The field broke Paul's record. I think it was 17-16.
Speaker 2Because I paced Paul the year before when Matt fell apart. I just remember waiting for Paul, for my turn to pace him and Matt was, you know, way far ahead and Scott Jurek was there that year. Okay, so we get to the turnaround point and it's I'm going first and Matt's already been gone. Paul gets in there, sits on a chair and is just hunched over. You know it's like Matt has just crushed him. And then, uh, jurek shows up, gets his stuff, leaves and Paul's still sitting there. It's like Paul, we need to go. And then we catch jerk on the top of the mountain of hope pass and then um went into the aid station, me and Jurek's pacer Went into the aid station, me and Jurek's pacer.
Speaker 2I went and grabbed stuff. Jurek's pacer went over and threw up. All goes by and I had so much trouble trying to catch him going down the hill to the trails and all that stuff. He was just flying. And then my other friend, our other friend, twin Lakes, took him from there to fish hatchery. So I'm waiting over there and Matt never comes out. Paul comes out. It's like a hole, it's like what happened to matt. So then it's my turn. Um, but uh, the pace. My friend kelly is like. He's like saw some uh, wetness on the ground, so like matt had peed or something. It's like we're getting close because it's fresh. And that's the story he told me when he came out of the trees, like yeah, we caught mac bat there and then that was that was it. And matt never, he wouldn't quit. He basically stiff-legged the whole way from 25 miles in.
Speaker 2Wow, dude what a monster and I just had to take the wrath of in 2005 yeah uh two.
Speaker 1So it was 2005 the year you got second right okay, oh, can you talk about what it was like, like racing him in 2005 like were you guys? Was it a race? Well, that's the question. Like, were you guys with each other at all or is he?
Ultra Marathon Race Strategies and Stories
Speaker 2he's gone at the start okay, maybe 10 feet, 20 feet, and then he was gone. I mean, he just the light just went away. I mean, obviously we're running all the road together and probably people are staying close somewhat because it's just easy and you're hyped up. Then you hit the dirt road. Have you been out there? Yeah, so you hit that dirt road and then it's all. It's darker, there's no town lights and Matt's light just slowly fades away. And Jeffrey Teagues, who's a, um, uh, special forces I think he was rain beret goes with him. So it's, he follows matt for a long time. If you look at some of the splits he's closer. And then my thing was to run with, uh, joe kulak you know that name?
Speaker 2No, I don't Very big ultra runner back then because he had won a bunch of stuff very consistent, and that was the goal, was just to stay with Joe the whole time. Started going up Hagerman Pass, yep, and it just seemed so slow running with him, those guys, or running with him, I was like I'm not going to walk, so I just slowly left him and then got to, um, fish hatchery and I was in third, uh, and I can't remember the other guy's name, he was a postman out of Denver Um, so slowly I caught up closer to him and then he had pulled away, teagues, didn't fall apart until going up hope pass, and then matt was coming. I think matt was coming down hope pass when I was still going over, holy shit, which is crazy. Got to the turnaround, um, and teagues caught back up to me brian, me, brian, I can't remember Brian, something caught me.
Speaker 2And then, um, so then I was in fifth I guess third, fourth and fifth we're all together with the turnaround coming back up. They all dropped me. And then some, uh, english guy passed me and finally got to the top and, uh, so my friend Kelly, the one who helped pace him he's pacing me or somebody else paced me at the time he helped pace me. Later Jeff Prada paced me and just going up and got to Twin Lakes and just kept going and then eventually I think I caught maybe Teague's up-hope pass and then caught Brianrian, uh, after twin lakes and then I didn't. It caught the british guy somewhere later and then caught second place on the top of not hagerman pass but the actual flat area before you go down.
Speaker 1Okay, yeah, so after you're over power line, then yeah, yeah, okay, right before you go down yep, so.
Speaker 2So, after you're over power line, then, yeah, yeah, before, right before you go down, yep. So we see these lights, flashlights, and we're it's like, okay, we just need to gather ourself. And it's like we're gonna go by. We're gonna go by him quick, you know, in a hundred mile race, because he's not moving very oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2So we go by and we started going down and I think I gained, I don't know. Uh, I think he was maybe seven minutes behind me when I got to the aid station and when I was there for a little bit or maybe not that much, I'm not sure I I left and he wouldn't leave until they made him some soup. So he sat there for who knows how long and then I beat him by 13 minutes. I think he ran 1915. Okay, so Matt was already showered in bed.
Speaker 1Hanging out yeah. So he was not at the finish line when you got there.
Speaker 2No, it was 1103 at night.
Speaker 1Okay, wow, oh my God man, like did you guys share stories after the fact? Like what was cause?
Speaker 2that must have been pretty exciting for the big thing with matt is, um, I don't know if you know larry miller no so larry miller is very close to matt. Um, he ran against prefontaine back in the day, oh wow. But uh, I was at the grocery store that week afterwards and he walks up to me, he goes so is your, how matt did? He said yeah, didn't even know I ran the race.
Speaker 1Oh my god how sad is that.
Speaker 2That's my wife at the time is like this is sad, um, but he, oh, I think. I think I have the biggest gap loss in history of leadville holy shit, do you really?
Speaker 1well? I mean, it's against the greatest, first and second.
Speaker 2Yeah, just the biggest time gap, wow. Otherwise, the second one, I think, is harry harcrow which I ran into him. We were running one day and we were talking about it and figuring out the time. I think I got him by three minutes when he lost anton okay but yeah, and then whenever I see man it's like so he'll always ask me you ever run lidville? I mean, that's the ongoing joke every time I see him.
Speaker 1Oh my gosh, what a crazy story, especially being on the other side of that. Like that's, that's, I mean, it's a piece of history, you know. It's just interesting to me too that it took David Roche this year with, I mean, with all the shoe technology on his side, with. I mean it was a hot year still still. But like shoe technology, um, gel technology, like where the nutrition's come a long way yeah, it's crazy that it's taken this long.
Speaker 1It just goes to show you like, what a like, what a crazy iconic record you know so I mean, that was power bars back then right, right, is that what? Yeah, what were you guys eating it? It was all power bars and like solid foods and stuff like that.
Speaker 2Power bars and maybe Gatorade. Oh my God, I had a bowl of pasta at Twin Lakes going out. Otherwise it was all power bars and then Gatorade Endurance.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Back then had five electrolytes against the three of Gatorade now. Matt used to carry like an old Gatorade bottle under his armpit the big, tall ones, to carry like a old Gatorade bottle under his armpit, the big, tall ones. So when we did San Juan he beat me there by a lot and broke Dave Mackey's record.
Speaker 1Yeah.
San Juan Solstice Race Experience
Speaker 2Yeah, but he had put power bars and they took it to I think it was Slum Gullion or I'm trying to think which one is which. The 30 mile mark, roughly Okay. So he gets his bottle and it's this stuff kind of fermented, not realizing it because it's sitting out in the sun, oh yeah, you know for how long he gets, it takes off, starts drinking and it's just rancid, he said. And so he has to keep drinking it, otherwise you're going to break down. And you got what? 10 miles to the next aid station. And uh, but when he finished there, next aid station, and uh, but when he finished, there was, uh, he was throwing up a lot, I guess, and he was trying to eat charcoal, I guess, to settle the stomach. Oh man. So and then we started training afterwards, not too long after that, because it still felt good, we were still strong. I got second. So you're on that high of that. He broke the record and he never recovered completely. So that's when he fell apart in 2004. Interesting.
Speaker 1Can you talk about? I've never actually been on that San Juan Solstice course Can you talk, cause you have a long history with that race, including winning it? Can you talk a little bit about just the course itself and your experiences there, Like what you've kind of done on there?
Speaker 2I'd say the well. Well, the first one, 2003, um it. I mean. It's really nice. At the beginning it's just a gravel road and then it hits the trail and then you start to slowly go crossing the water I don't know, maybe 20 something times and it is so freaking cold. Every in a while they'll have a rope across to try to help you.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2I mean a lot different from cause I did it this year or last year, sorry, and way different from what I've remembered. I was like this is so different. The beginning part, once I got to the 22 mile aid station, everything was just like what I remembered but, like this year, I wasn't sure if I was going to race, kept going back and forth and then I was struggling before I even got to the climb. So after 16, everything just fell apart, kind of thing. So I was walking all the way up to 22, walking all the way to another flat every once in a while I'd run.
Speaker 2Got to the 30 mile station I wasn't eating much in between, I think I had a bunch of coke here and there and maybe one bite of something and got to the I think it's 37 mile mark and then it's all downhill, but the first part is kind of a lot of rocks on it, even though it's a dirt road. Then it cleared out. Then it's all downhill, but the first part is kind of a lot of rocks on it, even though it's a dirt road. Then it cleared out and it's like nothing was bothering me anymore. I feel like I hadn't run. I was going I don't know six. I was going six something pace and I just kept catching everybody that was walking by me earlier and I got to that station and then it was.
Speaker 2Everything was great after that back to life like a whole nother world off of just coke and I think I had a part of a banana. So, um, otherwise, I think I've done it. Eight times was this year? Um, I think it was, uh, ninth, second, first, sixth, I'm not sure what. The other two or one of them was like really rough, like I was going to drop and Paul DeWitt was going to pace his dad showing him to pace the last 10 miles. So he said, dan, just wait for my dad to show up and you can run in with us, because I was going to stop running, I was going to quit. So I just did that and actually, oh, I still finished. So that was a long one.
Speaker 1Wow.
Speaker 2That is just amazing, course. I mean you're, you're so high up and then when you're running on the tops, you think you're somewhere and then it drops and you can see different ways to go. And, uh, like the year I won, there was a part where we're going down the hill and they had to use a rope because there was no trail anywhere, it was all solid snow and you can't see anything, so so I had to use the rope to go down it. That was an awesome year. And then you're up on top and it's like mush and it seemed like 20 feet of walls on the snow before you get to the 22 mile aid station. It was just amazing just to go through and look at it so cool.
Speaker 1Yeah, the, that race is iconic and I would I would urge any listeners or anybody that's listening to this to to definitely check it out. I mean, now it's, there's a wait list and it's a little, but if you show up day off, you usually they'll usually let everybody in right more, or?
Speaker 2less, um, if there's enough spots.
Speaker 1Yeah, you just got to show up and be there yeah, yeah, that's so cool, though well, it's a late june race somewhere in june, right uh?
Speaker 2yeah, when I won it was the day before Father's Day, so the awards were on Father's Day. What was cool? Nice and my kids ran with holding my hands. Oh man, At least two of them. The other one was too little. That's a good memory.
Speaker 1That's amazing. Yeah, can you talk a little? One of the things I was interested in asking you was because, like you've had so many lives in the sport back in the day, like when you and Matt and like you guys were kind of in in a lot of ways, like the top of trail and ultra running, like what was the sponsorship, like world, like were people approaching you, were brands approaching you at any point, or was that like more, like not a thing at that point in time?
Elite Running Community in Colorado Springs
Speaker 2Um, not in my world at least. I mean, matt was sponsored. I think he was the number one mountain runner for 10 years. Yeah, um, he was by phila, so he got paid that way, or he'd get paid appearance fee or you know, prize money, stuff like that. And then, because of phila, what I was trying to get, a training type of group where they were getting a certain amount of runners and those specific runners, like I'd beat them all on the peak. I just didn't hear about it. And two, when I've done something like that and then you might not hear me do anything, good for a little bit, but they got on that testing thing with Fila. Didn't know that, never heard of it, didn't know there was anything beyond going to Europe. Didn't never heard of an ultra yet Didn't know they existed. Um, so, yeah, never had any. And that's still a dream to keep pushing, hoping somebody will want to give me something in the sense it makes me feel wanted Like being an ambassador is not quite the same.
Speaker 2In my world I've had a few ambassador stuff, but it's very hard because I want the want and not just doing it for somebody so that I keep chasing. Even though I'm this old I still chase that and maybe if I do good enough at this age and maybe I make a big difference, maybe somebody gives you I mean, if it was just shoes or whatever and puts that like I ran a little bit for Reebok out of college with V heel Cause. V was a global consultant for Reebok, so not quite the same. I, you know, I just got some clothes and some shoes because Vio was a global consultant for Reebok, so not quite the same. I just got some clothes and some shoes. But after that, yeah, it was not anything that I'd ever heard of.
Speaker 1It's interesting. It's just interesting to me how now, with so many brands in the space, now it's a different game. They're always giving out free stuff and it's a lot easier to get it. But dude, that's interesting to hear. I mean, and and any brands listening to this, you know I've got a few. I can, I can, we can get you talking to after this. Get it, get some shoes your way. What do you like to what do you like?
Speaker 2to run. I got to run. Well, and adios pro 3, yeah, yeah, I put a trail bottom on it. So I'll modify a lot of shoes that I have shave them down, make them skinnier, make them lighter um, I've done that for joe sometimes and then, uh, modify, like I have haglin's deformity, yeah. So I've had to modify all my shoes. I used to have in my left foot, so I'd modify the shoe on the left. So I have holes in the other shoes, the older shoes, and I got rid of that one by hitting it with a massager and and freezing it, no shit. And then I got it in this side.
Speaker 1So all my shoes have holes on this side, um, but that one have you been in pain like running in pain for for a long time?
Speaker 2Very long time, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1Because, ace, do you know, ace, he just got his. Yeah, I talked to him about it Haglund's like ripped out two days ago or something like that.
Speaker 2Zach had it done. Zach had it done. Yeah, Andy Wacker had it done.
Speaker 1It's a very common thing. Yeah, alex, alex.
Speaker 2Nichols, he had one too. It was either Achilles or Haglund's. I think it's Haglund's because we talked about that, but he was back in six months. Wacker was back quick and Zach took roughly two and a half years where he could get out of bed and just go run without pain.
Speaker 1It took him that long. Zach's journey has been incredible. That's been one to follow man. I was always hoping I was a little bummed that he decided to like settle in oregon.
Speaker 2I was kind of hoping he would like make roots back here and like he looked at a property back by peter mascomo. Oh, did he really somewhere over there? Yeah, I didn't get it.
Speaker 1It would have been nice to have had him like in town. Yeah, so haggling. So you've modified a lot of your shoes to kind of deal with that. Do you still run in pain, or is it not like I can Like?
Speaker 2I can sit here and have pain, but it doesn't last very long anymore.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Not like before. It was hard to train because I didn't want to go out and run because it's going to hurt to start, and just dealing with that every day kind of made it hard to want to run. But I'd gotten insurance last year. I hadn't had it for I don't know how long since, I think when I was married. Otherwise, I had it one more other time and I told him I didn't want to stop running. So the choices were wear a boot every night, prp, and if none of that works, then they got to go in and shave it. So I was like I'll do the boot first. So I wore that for 10 months straight and then once in a while I would take it off just to see and sleep with it, and sometimes it would hurt, but not all the time anymore. So I don't wear the boot anymore. Um, but I sit every day when I'm at home watch tv or something. I roll it on a spike ball like spike, like a pin, yeah, like a ballpoint pin type of thing, that kind of pointed damn.
Speaker 2And I'll just roll it on it. I had to get used to that because there's a little spot. If you touched, spike like a pin, yeah, like a ballpoint pin type of thing, that kind of pointed damn, and I'll just roll it on it. I had to get used to that because there's a little spot. If you touched it was to the extreme pain I could touch around it. If I flex my foot I could hit that spot for whatever reason weird so, um, I just keep.
Speaker 2I mean, I do that all day. Every day I'll have my foot like this against something. If you're standing, it's fine because you're already flexing it. I'd be at work all day and it would hurt all day aching until I started doing that boot and it's made it more tolerable so I can deal with it because I'm used to the pain of being worse. So it'll come and go when I'm running with Tina and those guys, but then it doesn't stay very long.
Speaker 1It used to be really bad when I let the step go up something steep, so one foot would be more on the toe and the other one would try to more relax yeah, so it always looked like I was limping and it would hurt, so oh, man, yeah, I fortunately have not had any yet, but I would imagine over time, like you, eventually get them, so they're hopefully not.
Speaker 2Yeah, I don't know well, you know, ally matt, have you talked to? Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I fixed her shoes for pikes when she was doubling. Okay, she had I'm guessing it's the bursa really came out. It looked like my thumb sticking out of a heel, no shit, oh. So she's like, damn, can you, can you fix my shoes? So I came down there for the awards and fixed her shoes for the marathon. Wow, and it didn't bother her, which you would think it would still be a problem.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2And she had no problem the next day. That's interesting.
Speaker 1Yeah, allie's a legend man. I was so happy she came back this year to run the ascent. That was good to have her back, especially after like OCC moved away. Man, we got to get that's. That's the whole point of like community is to get more. Get everybody back. You know have to have this big colorado springs running contingent. I feel like this area is so slept on like everybody don't make me wrong, boulder's cool, a lot of listeners and friends live in boulder but like I feel like the springs is so slept on for just our access that we get. And then the people. I think we've got some really good people here we definitely have a lot more that way yeah they have more.
Speaker 2I would say more elites. Yeah, more focus there. Yeah, because I was there. Uh, when I left school because it was too expensive and moved up to boulder with a friend who was a cat two cyclists but he ran the steeplechase he said, hey, you could come live with us. So I moved there and just bike raced that year Not a lot of running and then went and did the World Duathlon Championships so that was fun. But when I was there there was more professional athletes per capita, they say than the whole United States.
Speaker 1Wow.
Speaker 2You had shorter, you had tennis players. You had Saeed Awida, gary, that owns Runners Roost, yeah, yeah, he would come here and train Steve Cram. All those guys, everybody. Wow. Then you had all the big cyclists too. Yeah 7-Eleven was here Wow.
Speaker 1It's crazy, you know, and that in the trail scene now, I mean everybody who wants to be part of the scene either lives in Flagstaff or Boulder. You know it's growing more in Salt Lake and other places, but yeah, it is. It is interesting, you know, I don't know. I just one of the things that I really enjoy is just having we've got a lot of elites where we're getting more elites in this area, so there's more people to train with and it's kind of like a growing contingent. But yeah, in boulder I feel like you've got somebody to run with every day. That's going to push you, which is difficult. Um, can you talk a little bit about I know you've done quite a few usatf, uh, trail champs. Can you talk a little bit about some of the ones that you've done?
Speaker 2uh, I think the first one I did US Cross when I was in college. That was in San Francisco, I think. I think what park is? Golden State Park? Maybe Pat Porter? Do you know that name? I do, I do so. I'd run over Pat back in the day because he was at Adams, but that was his last victory ever. That was his eighth victory, so he had the eight was his last victory ever. That was his eighth victory, so he had the eight in a row.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2That was his last one and that rained the whole time. It was terrible. Fun but terrible in that world of muddy stuff and I don't think I did another one, and back then it was TAC, it was T-A-C.
Speaker 1Really.
Elite Trail Racing Experiences
Speaker 2Yeah, because I still have the little form I have with my name on it. That's cool. After that, I think it was the US Half Marathon Champs in Moab, yeah, and I had won the Masters there. And then, no, I won the US 50 mile, I think first in Nueces, rock Springs, texas, where they just had Bandera. They had to move Bandera to there.
Speaker 1Oh, no shit I didn't know that and that's in the. You've won. You won Bandera back in the day, didn't you? No, I was third.
Speaker 2Third, I'm sorry, I was leading and then somebody had gone off course and somehow got ahead of me.
Speaker 1Wow, and never passed Nick, passed nick clark was the one that, yeah, yeah, legend, another legend. What year was that? Was it 15, 2010? I think it's 10. Okay, wow, we'll get into that one next.
Speaker 2There's just so much, so much here for it. But there was, those two were the same year, so I think the 50 miles first and the, because the other one is in november. So I won the 50 there and then came back and won the half marathon and then that's the only thing I actual master's titles I have. Otherwise I have, I don't know, maybe five or six age group, yeah, and then the Colorado 50K champs. I won 2016.
Speaker 2That was yeah, the outright race, but I had that but that and the month before I had won behind the rocks 50 mile or 50K and set the record. That was awesome. And I was just coming back from I got a blood clot and rhabdo from doing a CrossFit workout Not that I ever did it, but Really Because I don't do anything upper body and I didn't do anything especially then, and it was so bad that I couldn't pick my arms up. I could do like lift my arms straight, but I couldn't grab my like to wash my hair. I had to bend my head down cause I couldn't get past here. I to answer the phone. It's like this, you know, kind of leaning over to my hand.
Speaker 2Dude, you were messed up it was so bad, it hurt so bad. And then later, 10 days later, I was just tapping the counter and it felt weird and it started to fill with fluid right under my forearm.
Speaker 2Wow, and I had a friend tell me you need to go. I went to a chiropractor friend and sometimes you have ducts that fill up or that clog and you're. He was doing all that and stopped by the store next to us and just didn't want to go back to work, right then. So I just went in there and her friend is a vascular nurse and she's like we need to take you to go see my boss. Well, I didn't have insurance then either. So so he took the, she took me to the hospital or took me to him, and he said you need to go to that emergency. So they admitted me there, um, but I had it right in my shoulder so I must have tore something, okay.
Speaker 2So luckily it didn't go to my heart, right then yeah so then I couldn't run for quite a while a few months but because I was in shape, they said it went away. It was, it went away a lot faster.
Speaker 1But they did it to stick you on blood thinners.
Speaker 2Yes, right in the stomach. Oh man, it was terrible because I don't have much fat, it's very thin skin and my girlfriend at the time would use the needle because she was a diabetic at one point. She had to do that. You know, you're pinching skin like this and you're constantly doing each little muscle. And because I was swollen from, you know, if you look at a six pack, the second muscle was swollen all the way up my body. My arms were huge, my hands were huge. I mean I was all buff kind of thing, but not really. So they only had those two little spots to prick me. It was so painful that's terrible. Luckily it only lasted, I think, two and a half months. They told me it was gone. So then I went back to running.
Speaker 2And then that year is when I won Behind the Rocks and then won the Greenland 50K.
Speaker 1Oh, I forgot about Greenland. So the nature of the site or the lesson here is no CrossFit workouts there we go, or at least do something prior. Oh man, dude and I so interestingly, the USATF like. How long have they had USATF like trail champs like in Colorado Is this like? Has it been going on for a while or is it pretty?
Speaker 2Uh, I don't know if they've had a US other than cross country that they have. I don't know if they've had a U S one. They might've had it in Boulder, uh, but sometimes it's club cross or master's cross. I don't know if, how many times the U? S cross has been here, gotcha, um, but as far as trail wise I mean, they've had the trail, the Moab. Now the Moab went to the marathon after that, so that's why I went. Just a couple more titles there, uh, age group ones, and then they last year I think they went back to the half marathon, I think it was yeah.
Speaker 2And then, uh, other ones on the East coast now.
Speaker 1Yep, that's interesting. Yeah, it's, it's uh, it's crazy that we're having this year as a selection year for worlds and everybody's getting ready for that, for broken arrow or soon to P. Do you have any races that you haven't done yet that you think you want to go do all of those?
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean I haven't ventured out too far. Yeah, I've done a few that are farther away, but I work six days a week and to get in some races is not very easy anymore. Yeah, not like back in the day, where you could just go sign up.
Speaker 1So much different. That way it is. The the game has changed significantly. That's why, like I don't know, I I tend to dabble more. I mean, I tell entirely in the sub ultra realm, where it's a little easier to get in. The stuff like broken arrow on the rod obviously is difficult, but like I can't tell you, the last time I tried to get into a lottery or something like that, just because, like I just don't feel like dealing with that. It's, it's a, it's a process. Now, do you ever like try to get into like Western States or anything like?
Speaker 2that I've done that, have you, yeah, I signed up one time and I got in, did you really? Yeah, we were doing Me. Nick, from what I can remember. Dylan Bowman I can't think of him. They call him Young Money. I can't think he was second at North Face. Dakota Dakota Jones yeah, so he was there, but not racing because he had just come back the next week. Yeah, he was there, and a few other bigger names I can't remember who?
Speaker 2they were Just top of the food chain, guys, man. So we're out running and we're just doing this fat ass run with Nick and somebody was out on the course and we ran by and they told us hey, you got into Western. And that's all I found out. Oh my God.
Speaker 1What was that experience? Like man, terrible, yeah, I drove.
Speaker 2I think it was 17 hours there by myself, slept in my car. Beginning of the race was fine, I think at mile 15. It was like I was done. I get to the aid station. I think that one's run all by doctors, medical people. They just said here, just drink this coconut water, do all this other stuff, take the sodium and you should come back. It didn't come back until a mile to go.
Speaker 1Oh, you suffered through the whole thing. Oh my God, I didn't see any results. That's why I didn't know.
Speaker 2I think it was 27 hours. Oh, my God, didn't get results, that's why I didn't know. Oh, it was. I think it was 20, 27 hours, oh, my god, so that was the longest I'd ever run in my life time wise, yeah, before that I think it was the 19, I don't think I'd been beat her. 20, 21. I think it's the longest I'd ever run.
Speaker 1Wow, but six more hours well, the thing is is like you're training with and running with like these top of the food chain guys, so you must have had like competitive aspirations going into that race right, like always, yeah, no matter what. So that's got to be like ego beat down, like having to have to deal with that. I'm surprised you didn't drop. I would have dropped, save the legs for another day. I thought about it, maybe at mile 60.
Speaker 2Yeah, and I didn't have any pacers and I was just there by myself and some lady, um Roberta, so I didn't know who she was. And she goes, hey, do you want to pace her? And I'm like, no, I'm okay, I'm fine. And she bugged me for a little bit and then I said okay, so we, she paced me the whole way from there in Wow, and uh, you know, she was very encouraging, it was great to have her there. Made a huge difference, I'm sure. And then, with a mile to go, it's like you're coming down the road and it's like nothing bothered me. I mean, I got down into the to the fives coming down the last mile, it just felt that good, wow, but before that, no, for whatever reason that's everything changed.
Speaker 1Is the course just like brutal, like I mean, I was obviously between the heat and everything or was it just a bad day on your end, like what do you?
Speaker 2Bad day on my end.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Because it shouldn't be a fall apart at 15 miles, right, right, no matter what, I shouldn't.
Colorado Springs Strava Segment Stories
Speaker 1Right, it's interesting, did you feel? Like I mean obviously hindsight's, 20-20. And it's interesting now seeing, like Hannah, all good, and a lot of other folks, uh, and we've had people over the years like alex and everybody around western states like I feel like there's, there's like the colorado springs is a decent training ground to be able to get ready for a race like that oh, totally, yeah, we got the altitude.
Speaker 2We have so many different trails along the whole piece in the front area. Yeah, we have the back. We have all the collegiate peaks. I mean you have everything here yeah, speaking of that.
Speaker 1So you are very well known in colorado. I knew your name before, like I even knew you existed in the sense of strava I was gonna say.
Speaker 2You're gonna say strava, aren't you?
Speaker 1strava you are. You're a strava the strava man. I mean dan dan vegas. And then money signs and all this stuff can you talk to me about like because all right. So, folks listening to this, if you ever run in colorado springs, you're going to come across a segment with dan's name on it. Where did that come from? Is this like? You just create these and like, have fun with it because, like, I love them. It's always good, interesting. Like, uh, climb of doom. Or like, what is it suit, dan vegas? Uh, hidden super climb. You forgot that was the first one.
Speaker 2And then somebody made two other ones come from a different angle from it.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, yeah, um. So there was two girls used to run with. Once in a while We'd go out and stuff like that. Always call me Vandega. So basically the D and the V are switched, um. So then I started doing the Strava, which I wish it had it when I was here in 2005, when I was running that fast. Um, which I wish it had it when I was here in 2005, when I was running that fast. I just started making some segments and then it was always that name and the dollar sign, because every once in a while I'd put out there on Facebook. You know, if you want to go run, I get off at six o'clock at the time and it was always dark and every once in a while I say bring money you know as a joke.
Speaker 2So everyone ever over time people was like oh yeah, you got to bring money and stuff like that. So it became something so, and then I would put dollar signs behind certain things that I would say but in Strava it's the dollar sign. And then the year that I made the segment Unless I see it later, if I can remember when I first did it, like I have one, it used to be the dirt parking lot on top of, I can't think, st Mary's.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2You know the main parking lot.
Speaker 2So from there, from the gate, all the way up until there's a fence there now, but it hits a road and I never went beyond that part. So on a tree, which I probably shouldn't have done, I scratched in the year or no scratch, yeah, the year and the time I ran. So like the first one was, I think, 54 minutes and um, and over the time I would see that and I would just write that if I ran faster or something like that or a different time, and that was back in 94. So as Strava segment it says 94, which obviously it didn't exist back then, and then sometimes I'd use it as a kind of a standard If I could run faster, hopefully I'll do better in this race.
Speaker 2So, yeah, I got down to in route I did um, uh, rosa, which I didn't know Rosa existed, and one of my friends did it and he came down to my work that day and I and we were, I think I was talking to him, so then I wrote down all his splits, every mile, sorry. And then it was like well, I can, I think I can run faster than him, darren thomas, I think. I think he had taken it from darren.
Speaker 2I think I've talked to darren he doesn't remember it, but he was really young, yeah, and maybe it was by, that's what he ran, but not on strava or no recording of it. But he came back and said yeah, I beat darren's time, so I wrote all that down. I got off work at six it's still daylight and I started running these the you know the miles as we're going, and it's like I'm like I'm a minute ahead, of him already all right now I'm two minutes or whatever.
Speaker 2I kept gaining more and more and he was walking some of those sections like I don't need to walk, so I gained so much and by the time I got to the top I think I'd beat it by I don't know, five or six minutes, maybe something like that, I don't remember exactly. And then, but when I got it back to turn around to go, when I was coming back down um it, it basically got dark right after I left and so I had to run. You know I had to use a head lamp, so that was hard through the rocks where that top part is really bad.
Speaker 1I still haven't been on it. No, no, it's on my list.
Speaker 2And then Joe later, I can't remember, maybe three years ago, it was me, joe Ben Payne, I know that name, yeah. And then some other WCAP, or not just WCAP, one of the Kenyans, joe's friend, w cap or not his W cap, uh, one of the Kenyans, joe's friend. And he went and, uh, joe wanted me to take him, show him how it goes and everything else. So we started and, uh, I was leading the whole time and they're just following me and there was a part I don't know, maybe two miles, two and a half miles in had to go to the bathroom, unfortunately. So they just kept going and luckily they found the route because I explained it and he goes and beats mine, which I think Ted Schultz broke it by a minute earlier, I think, yeah, earlier, and then Joe dropped it another eight minutes. I was like, oh my God, of course he did, so I made the segment going. I think I made the segment going, maybe the round trip of it. Yeah, I think somebody had already made the one going up, but yeah, this is.
Speaker 1You know, my favorite one you've ever made is uh, I think it's cheap tricks for bumps. I think is what it's called. Up the incline down longs ranch, I think it's what it's called I don't think that's mine is it?
Speaker 2yeah, yeah, oh, I got it started on my strava oh yeah, man, because I've seen those words on something else or similar to it. Yeah, I think it's on it.
Speaker 1I'm almost, I think it's. Yeah, I'm almost 100 sure I'd have to look for it. But yeah, I'll look for it after the, after the episode. But I think it's one of yours it's uh yeah, up the incline and then down longs ranch and it's like perfect, like seven miles with like 3 000 feet. It's a great route. I shouldn't tell people this because I don't want them to go run it well you wouldn't believe.
Speaker 2When people take my segments, oh, they'll go look for them oh yeah, and then I'll get emails upon, emails upon. Like I have so many crowns I mean I might be the only one on them, because it's kind of my run type of thing yeah and sometimes I'll make certain pieces out of a big run. I wasn't doing that before, necessarily, but I was like people are making all these small.
Speaker 2I didn't want to make anything tiny yeah unless it was very specific and it really was a big deal. So maybe a quarter mile, but it could be something like let's see if I should go that quarter mile, which is not the same. But yeah, the 0.1, 0.2 is like. I don't know if they're generated on some of them.
Speaker 1I guess they are. I've only ever made one it was the Blodgett from St Francis, like up the road and then connecting to Blodgett, because I like that road descent as opposed to starting on like the single track trail that's like kind of rooted out and rutted and nasty.
Speaker 2Um, that's the only one I've ever made and then I have some that I know I didn't make, yeah, but your name just shows up. Look on it no, there's no, there's an actual. We'll just say, like your sandalwood musk, we'll just say it's called that. And then I'll look at it and you touch it and it says you can edit it. I was like I didn't do that interesting. And it's like, okay, I'm just gonna change it. I don't, I don't know if they just, like strava, gave it to me or something.
Speaker 2It's possible like give it here, let's give it to that guy yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1So I don't know. I wonder like do you have? You have any idea like how many you've made over the years? Because I wonder if you're like a rank, like there's a ranking of like this guy, like dan, has made, I don't know, like more than any other person, which is kind of cool, I don't know uh, I have starred.
Speaker 2I think 1200, I think I've made it might be at a thousand now.
Speaker 1Wow, 900 and something that's crazy that's gotta be up there, that's gotta be top 10 man for people making making strap like route I love it because I think it adds to the community. You know to me because it's like oh, you know, it's um, I don't know.
Speaker 2Like I said, I knew your name before you even knew I existed, so it's just interesting, like the only way I can get people to talk to me, because I got emails from, like there's a couple college kids in bear creek because that's where I'm at and I think during the summer they come here home and then they go back to school somewhere else. Uh, there was one. I got an email and it's like oh thanks, dan vega, for making all these cool things, but they were going after all the little ones that I made in there.
Speaker 2Those bastards emails every day why they were there training yeah I was like and I like you know it's cool that they do that, it's like, but I still want some of them back oh for sure, like I, took, I think, three back last, two back last week and I took one this week from somebody so he's on a rampage.
Speaker 1There you go.
Speaker 2It wasn't one of them doing or one of the ones they took because they're like in college yeah, quicker.
Speaker 1The ones I really care about are the climbs like I and now I'm getting more in like I'll go for like an up down or descent like blodgett I really care about. Like an up-down or a descent Like Blodgett I really care about. Like I would love to get a top five time on Blodgett, all like round trip.
Speaker 2Let me guess Joe has that one.
Speaker 1Joe's got it yeah, he's got them all. Yeah, any ascent time in the springs for more or less, unless it's the incline, then Joe's got it, you know.
Speaker 2So, yeah, damn, R line, and joe's got it, you know. So, yeah, damn remy, he doesn't have the perfect 10. What's the perfect 10? Uh, it is section 16, the old, or it's still there. It's 666 before they cut it off and now they have to turn back. So it goes around and that piece, when you come back to the section 16, turnout, it's called the game changer, yeah, and then, if you do the whole thing back to the start of the section 16, uh, it was a perfect 10 miles, at least by strava. You know, sometimes you do it again. It's not 10 miles perfect. So that's what it's called. Um, is that?
Speaker 1yours or john, is it? I don't know john. I'm sure john has it. Maybe, if it's not joe's, it's john, it's not Joe John who John? Think uh, as is John, oh, John I don't know if Jonathan's done that one.
Speaker 2He he's run fast on everything, but he's somebody else. Like a lot of people that come back from college or they visit, yeah, and they'll go do these things Like yeah.
Speaker 1And ask that guy, who's this guy? Yeah, why is he here? Yeah, yeah, now, a lot of times it's the, it's the cross-country kids man from like visiting from out of like or, yeah, like one's a like colby schultz is a great example. Like he's, he's nasty, he lives I think he lives in monument but like runs cross country for like colorado state or something like that. He'll come back and rip stuff up in monument and south. So there's a lot of guys you know it's, it's uh, competition man, it's fun, it is fun and I still want to try to go after some of them.
Speaker 2We'll see. Like ace took for a while was taking so many.
Speaker 1Oh, he's another one. I should, I, I gotta throw. Yeah, I give flowers to ace. He's dude. I, as far as strava goes, there's no one that puts more like work into it besides you than ace man. Oh my god, yeah, because he's taking my stuff. Yeah, that's the work he puts in.
Speaker 2He's a monster before I ever met him. I he said something about and I, I think, either answered back or I sent him something through strava and I said, and he goes, well, we'll go back out and get it. I was like, well, do you know how old I am? And he said, okay, if that's the case, we're gonna back out and get it. I was like, well, do you know how old I am? And he said, okay, if that's the case, we're going to do the. What is it? The age graded? So I was like, okay, I got you by 20 minutes, then Take it now.
Speaker 2No. By that standard. You know he wouldn't be able to touch. No, I would. I guess depends how it's graded because he's I.
Speaker 1I think I got almost 30 years on him.
Speaker 2I've only ever taken one segment off of him, like a long time ago I've done that too. Then he went back and took it.
Speaker 1Yeah, he didn't go back and get mine. No, I'd like to see him try. I'm not even telling what it is.
Running Community Connections and Competition
Speaker 2He probably hopefully he's forgotten do you ever just look at the, when you look at the course records? Yeah, like, like I think I have I don't know 40 pages oh my god of crowns on strata see, like I'm very predictable dude.
Speaker 1I train in like the same places like I like, for instance, like I'll a lot of, I spend a lot of time on the incline. I spent a lot of time running flat stuff in like the same place. So like I'll have my crowns and like I don't, really I gotta get out and do more trails, like I. I'm kind of predictable and boring, I'm not gonna lie. But yeah, no, it's, and I'm sure ace too has.
Speaker 1Like I can't imagine how many crowns he has yeah, oh, my god yeah, yeah, I gotta step it up, man, I'm also like cagey with my straw, but like I keep it like locked down. Like you know what Brian Whitfield is. Yeah, he's the same way. Like he doesn't let anybody see his training, joe doesn't either.
Speaker 2Yeah, I'm kind of the same way, Unless Joe takes a crown. You don't see it very often.
Speaker 1That's exactly what I don't. I usually keep it. I don't know, maybe it's like insecurity, I don't know.
Speaker 2I'm bad with that, unless you're just trying to be more secretive of trying to let people do what you do training-wise, yeah, like if I did it it wouldn't make any difference.
Speaker 2I mean, at least in my age, when you're talking about the younger runners, which is just like toward the end of last year, I didn't, everything was private. Yeah, every once in a while I'd run with a group. Tina, um, jesse, mike and toby is the main little five of us. Yeah, so I think it was mike and and jesse first, because they went to school and grew up together. Tina was younger and then Tina started running because the bet, so then it was those three, and then Toby got in and Tina for the longest time thought she didn't want to invite me because she thought me and Toby hate each other. So she told us I'm not too long ago, on running, it's like no, we're frenemies, you know, it's all about racing. When you're racing, it's different. But we're frenemies, you know it's all about racing. When you're racing, it's different.
Speaker 1But you're still friends. Yeah, absolutely, but she thought I hated him.
Speaker 2Oh, really so then I got in the group, then it's been us five and then little things expand here and there Because I know more people outside their group and a lot of different groups. So, like Brandon Sabanovich, yeah, yeah brandon sabanovich. Yeah, he'll come when peter's here, he'll show up sometimes, uh ryan hafer.
Speaker 1Do you know that is yes, yes, so there's another big, but it's older, but bigger boy, yeah, still fast yeah, um, and then you'll get a lot of different ones here and there um, people come and go.
Speaker 1yeah, I've got a little like a little contingent now. I it's funny when I lived in Monument I used to train very solo, never with anybody, and then I came down here and met a bunch, just kind of found community and made a lot more friends that I'm very competitive with and also train at a high level. So it's good to have a nice little group of guys and gals to run with. I like it to to, you know, to run with and to kind of I like it for to test yourself too. I'm like you know, I like to see, like, all right, where's Brad at, or where where's this person at, Where's that person at, you know, cause you know racing comes around and I really care about it. So I like to see, like you know, Hers is like trying to hang.
Speaker 2is Tina? Is the one we have, tina's?
Speaker 1a monster dude. I'm so excited Like we're here. Career like has like really progressed, like golden trail and everything Like it's amazing to see like where, where things are going for her.
Speaker 2So it's pretty annoying sometimes training with her. It's like I'm going to do my easy day, cause she ran 20 miles a day before and it's so easy, depending on how much I've been running. Yeah, I was like, dude, this is so damn hard and it would hurt, and I was like, hopefully we get to a flat part or a downhill and then it'll be okay. I just got to get to that point first without falling off the group. Now I don't have a problem recently, so that's helped a lot.
Speaker 1Yeah, dude, she's a beast and like, like I said, we've got a really good contingent of just like people in the springs that like come and go and train here and call this place home. Um, yeah, what do you think you're gonna get to this year? You have any any one race or two races you think you might go to, or I?
Trail Running Training and Reflections
Speaker 2want to go back to behind the rocks okay I set out to run like I ran 424, I think. When I got the record, yeah, um, and then the the girlfriend I was with at the time was training me prior, you know, before that came, um, and then so I would, she would have me run like 22 miles. You know, this stuff I never did really or really trained any time. And then it was 20 miles and it was 18 miles. But she had me do a, made it a segment. It's 21 miles inside of the garden. So I don't know if you ever saw the segment, the blade, no.
Speaker 2So you know where the farm is, yeah, and so if you go where the farm is and you go up that little hill and then you have that little ridge, yeah, yeah, so it starts right there. It goes that way, it goes down, you make the hairpin, you go through the tree, go around, and then there's another hairpin, you come back. I guess 0.89 or something like that. So I did 21 miles of, I think I did two loops of. From there you go to that hairpin and you go around the little trails around, you come back. So then she prescribed a pace, but you can't give a pace for something that does this.
Speaker 2She had it for the blade part of it. So I did two loops of that, did six loops of this and then I crossed the road and same point. You go part of the blade. You go to the point before it turns to go to the stairs of the parking lot. I did some of those and I came back to the blades and each one of the blades that was coming back down, which I would just pick it up a little bit, not that she wanted me to, but I was like I'll just do a little bit and I have a 705 for 21 miles inside of going up and down, um, so I felt like I was ready yeah and then I got, I think 10 days prior, I pulled um if it was.
Speaker 2Oh no, it was my heel. I think that's when it started, the right heel started being an issue. Yeah, so it's been hurting since that'd be 2017. Um, and then the training was to break four hours and that kid that won ran three, 58. Okay, and I think it's, uh, one of the kids from Western who became really big. Um, just run, yes. I think, it was him that set the rent three 58. He's a beast.
Speaker 1How about that that's crazy. Yeah, it's a. It's a great race and there's lots of good areas to get ready for that too here. Areas to get ready for that too here. I mean it's a lot of good opportunities to get good fitness. So that's cool behind the rocks. I have not been out to moab to race. I've put it on my list.
Speaker 1Yeah, never been out awesome place I mean I visited it, like I went. Uh, I think the last time I was there was like 2015, 2016, but it's been a long time, so definitely have to go back and like mad moose, like I have on yeah um, I've known them, so their kids used to play with my kids when they were little.
Speaker 2Yeah, and those two kids look like they could be my kids. The Ricks right Is it Kayla.
Speaker 1I think I raced Kayla Ricks this year at a Cirque series Brighton, I think she was there. Yeah, every now and then, like I'll interact with them.
Speaker 2Yeah. So I kind of run for them in the sense just give me some stuff, I'll wear it and that's, I think, phone. I remember that's how their ambassador thing or they had people like that do that.
Speaker 1It's for me telling them give me something, I'll just wear it, cause I always did a lot of their races, plus we were that close. Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, they I mean it's a great family organization Like I'm glad, like they have you know. And it's interesting too Cause, like I was thinking about this the other day they don't put on a lot of races during the summer. A lot of it's usually like fall, winter, spring, like not a lot of stuff during the summer too, which is kind of unique in their own for what they do. So I think I might do take five this year.
Speaker 1I've been considering it, maybe going something to do in may, I don't know because like I have like a long layoff between now and then there's no, no races that really have me excited. So I've got to find something to do, man. So the 5K or 5 mile, I think I might do the 5 mile because I'm on a 10K block right now. So I figure I'll be off the 10K block. I'll try to run my 10K PR in March and then have some fitness and figure out what to do, probably transition to the trails after that and start getting like seriously, like ready for the cirque series races what's your 10 kpr?
Speaker 1uh 36 and change right now it's pretty slow actually, so I want to try and narrow it down and go sub 35 would be nice.
Speaker 2So somewhere in that range.
Speaker 1You should have done the rescue run yeah, my two my good friends went over and ran it. You know I've got good trail speed but like really shitty, uh, like really shitty road speeds. That's what I'm working on right now. This is getting fast and like trying to make a big difference it does, it makes a huge difference.
Speaker 1Um, yeah, I can climb really well. I mean, I've got it all, like piecewise, but like all the pieces, but it's a matter of, you know, gaining fitness and just getting fitter. You know, that's the name of the game I meant to ask you do you have you ever, like when you were training with matt and stuff like that, like back in the day, like you guys didn't work with a coach, you were just kind of figuring it out, right like what matt was, just did everything himself.
Speaker 2Did he really he understood everything? And, yeah, he just did his own thing. Yeah, and then I just did some of the things with him yeah, wow it's, it's amazing.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's. Um, I was working with coaches for a long time and then, kind of this year, decided like all right, I'm gonna make some changes and like I don't know, just doing a lot of heart rate based stuff and like obviously I'm on a 10k block now. But I don't know, I feel like I've gotten significantly fitter in the last few months and it's made a huge difference. I'm like, well, we'll see where we could take this I don't have no concept of that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2I mean, I understand what it is, but 10k blocks and doing all that stuff, uh, it's like it's just I just run yeah I mean, I knew it because I did it in college. But people say, all that stuff is like yeah, I just go run or go look at a segment, you can take it.
Speaker 1I mean that's all my training was.
Speaker 2But way back in the day was yeah, if I could beat my time that I had set on a certain piece and that's just me writing it down, because there was no gps, no, nothing yeah, yeah it's, I don't know.
Speaker 1I I just I feel like I'm 33 I turned 34 in a few weeks and I'm like man, like you know. I mean you obviously break the break the mold and like guy like guys in their 40s, like obviously break the break the mold and like guy like guys in their forties, like Joe Max King, break the molds. But like it's, it's got me stressed that like I might not have my prime for a long time and I'm going to lose it at some point. So I'm like I got to do everything now to try and get as good as I possibly can. Like I feel like guys are still really good into their forties.
Speaker 2So not everybody keeps going, though, either.
Speaker 1That's true too. Yeah, that's people give up, people quit, so I think that's a huge aspect of life changes. Yeah, that's true too. I don't know. Well, dan, I don't want to take all of your evening. Thank you so much, I really appreciate the conversation, Um, you know, and sharing stories and and and talking and getting helping me tell your story, Thank you.
Speaker 2Very cool, thank you.
Speaker 1What'd you guys think? I hope you enjoyed that episode. Man, I'm going to thank Dan so much for coming on the podcast. Um, it was a great conversation, great opportunity to share some stories and just hear, um, you know, hear, hear the history of you know some how the great sport has progressed. Um, you know from the eyes of someone like dan, um, and just how he's played a role in pushing it forward. Um, his leadville story is crazy. Um, you know, running the leadville 100 with matt carpenter, training with matt carpenter is crazy. Um, and just all the accomplishments and accolades dan has had over the years, um, everything from you know, a second place back in the day, the Pikes Peak, ascent, usatf races or USATF trail races just so much so I couldn't, you know, couldn't express in words just how appreciative I am for having Dan on and you know, I can't wait to have him on for more conversations in the future. Really interesting guy and yeah. So, guys, before we get going, do me a favor If you're on Instagram, hop on Instagram and give Dan a follow.
Speaker 1His Instagram handle is Dan190301. That's Dan190301. Give him a follow, Send him a DM. If you guys don't follow him already, you absolutely should. He's got some. He always puts on some good reels of like him and his training group with Christina Mascherini running around all of some of the local cool trails in Colorado Springs. Yeah, so some great photos there, as well.
Speaker 1As give him a follow on Strava. His Strava is pretty straightforward as well. It's just Dan D-A-N, vega V-E-G-A and he's pretty popular on Strava. Like I said, he's got some. He puts up some good segments and good stuff on there. So definitely give him a follow, send him some messages, let him know what you guys thought about the episode. Um, I'm sure he'd love to hear from you guys. And yeah, um, yeah, guys, if you enjoyed this one, uh, do me a favor, share it on Instagram. Um, and give us a five-star rating and review on Spotify or Apple or YouTube and be really appreciative. And, yeah, we can get this one out to the world. Stay tuned, I got a special one coming for you guys on Friday and, yeah, have a great rest of your week, thank you.
